EDMOND, Okla. – A 29 point third quarter gave Central Oklahoma enough of a push to beat the RiverHawks 72-53 on Saturday afternoon at the Hamilton Field House.
 
Mary Jane Buschmann led the RiverHawks with 19 points in her best offensive day since she put up 20 on Jan. 4, 2016 at Northwest Missouri State.  Rylie Torrey had 12 points as NSU's second leading scorer in the contest. 
 
Miranda Griffin led NSU with seven rebounds but the RiverHawks would trail on the glass 42-to-27 with the Bronchos grabbing 13 offensive boards.  In second chance points, UCO had 12 with the RiverHawks having three points on five offensive rebounds.   
 
Northeastern State hung close to the Bronchos in the first half and NSU pulled even twice with under three minutes remaining.  A pair of free-throws from Torrey tied the game at 26 each with 2:44 left in the half but UCO closed the half on an 8-1 run to lead into the locker room 37-24.   At the half NSU slightly trailed in 17-to-16 in rebounding but shot 38-percent from the field with eight of their points coming from the free-throw line.
 
In the third period, Kylie Looney made Northeastern State's only bucket of the period with 1:21 left while UCO outscored the RiverHawks 29-to-9.  NSU went over 12 minutes between field goals while the Bronchos went 12-for-18 in the period to put Northeastern State back 63-36.   The RiverHawks found some offensive rhythm and outscored the Bronchos 17-to-9 in the final period with Buschmann having eight of NSU's points.  
 
The RiverHawks shot 34-percent (16-47) on the floor with six treys, Central Oklahoma went 44.4-percent (28-63) on their side of the court with four in double figures.  UCO's Jesheon Cooper led her squad with 19 points.
 
Saturday's loss is the fourth in a row for Northeastern State who falls to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in MIAA play; Central Oklahoma is 6-0 and 2-0 in the MIAA.
 
Northeastern State will have a week off before visiting Southwest Baptist on Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Saturday was Head Coach Randy Gipson's 500th game for the RiverHawks.
- Rylie Torrey had her seventh straight game in double-figures.
- Saturday's loss snapped a NSU three game winning streak against Central Oklahoma.
- Central Oklahoma outscored NSU 28-to-12 inside the paint.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE (2-5, 0-2 MIAA)
Buschmann, Mary Jane 5-11 7-8 19; Torrey, Rylie 2-11 7-9 12; Looney, Kylie 3-5 0-0 8; Griffin,Miranda 2-5 0-2 5; Bureau, Storm 2-4 0-0 4; Chamberlin, Hailey 1-2 1-2 3; Strange, Destiny 1-6 0-0 2; Hill, Alexis 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 15-21 53.
 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA (6-0, 2-0 MIAA)
Cooper,Jesheon 8-11 3-4 19; Mason,Olivia 5-9 3-3 16; Murillo,Melinda 6-19 0-0 14; Bryson,Shatoya 5-7 0-0 12; Lee,Madison 1-2 2-2 5; Blessington,Blake 1-5 0-0 2; Bryan,Hayley 1-3 0-0 2; Smith,Ireon 1-1 0-0 2; Stephens,Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; Womack,Megan 0-0 0-0 0; O'Dell,Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Anderson,Marley 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 8-9 72.
 
Northeastern State............   12   15    9   17  -   53
Central Oklahoma..............   18   16   29    9  -   72

3-point goals--Northeastern State 6-18 (Looney, Kylie 2-3; Buschmann, Mary Jane 2-5; Griffin,Miranda 1-3; Torrey, Rylie 1-6; Hill, Alexis 0-1), Central Oklahoma 8-20 (Mason,Olivia 3-5; Murillo,Melinda 2-7; Bryson,Shatoya 2-3; Lee,Madison 1-1; Anderson,Marley 0-3; Blessington,Blake 0-1).
Fouled out--Northeastern State-None, Central Oklahoma-None.
Rebounds--Northeastern State 27 (Griffin,Miranda 7), Central Oklahoma 42 (Mason,Olivia 9; Cooper,Jesheon 9).
Assists--Northeastern State 8 (Hill, Alexis 3), Central Oklahoma 18 (Murillo,Melinda 9).
Total fouls--Northeastern State 11, Central Oklahoma 15.
Technical fouls--Northeastern State-None, Central Oklahoma-None.
A-179